| Psychology is by no means only the study | | | | deafness, blindness, and the like. Many |
| of adult minds and emotions. In an | | | | children's speech impairments can also |
| increasingly complex and stress-oriented | | | | be resolved by a trained child |
| world, children are just as affected by | | | | psychologist. |
| the abnormalities of daily life as | | | | It is now well known that psychological |
| adults are. The sad story of modern | | | | problems that crop up in childhood can |
| society speaks of child abuse, incest, | | | | translate into serious consequences like |
| family discord, drug and alcohol abuse, | | | | criminality later on. At the very least, |
| and other major problems. | | | | unresolved psychological complications |
| Had child psychology been a better | | | | can result in an unhappy and traumatized |
| understood subject three or four decades | | | | adulthood. These are some of the |
| ago, the present rate of juvenile crime | | | | potholes along the highway of modern |
| and delinquency might not have reached | | | | life that child psychologists help to |
| such alarming proportions. It is the | | | | fill. |
| feelings about and reactions to the | | | | Interestingly, child psychology finds |
| inputs during childhood that formulate a | | | | decisive application in the problems |
| youth's policies and beliefs for future | | | | faced by especially gifted children, |
| life. | | | | too. Children with learning difficulties |
| In addition, there are many problems, | | | | face problems with the educational and |
| unrelated to environmental and social | | | | family systems. In the same manner, |
| circumstances that affect children in | | | | so-called prodigies find themselves |
| particular. Child psychology addresses | | | | alienated from mainstream life by virtue |
| clinical problems that beset children | | | | of their exceptional talents and |
| and early adolescents. These include | | | | capabilities. In every imbalance of |
| mental retardation, autism, learning | | | | early and late childhood, a child |
| impairments such as dyslexia, behavior | | | | psychologist can avert serious problems. |
| disorders and complications born of | | | | |